RCACP now able to do its own animal adoptions

After years of criticism for its euthanasia rates, the Roanoke pound is working to change its image and get those numbers down.

ROANOKE, Va. -

When you look at the cages of dogs, cats, even a bird and some goats - you get a sense of what the Regional Center for Animal Control and Protection deals with every day.

In the past, the animals' only hope was to be found by their families or selected by rescue organizations.Now, that's changing.

"The community has been asking for years that we do adoptions and we heard them- and are responding so at the start of this month we started doing our own adoptions," explains David Flagler.

Flager is the executive director and says- so far, so good.He says the pound is modeling its adoption program after the group, Angels of Assisi's.

Explains Flagler, "On an average they were able to do about 50-adoptions a month and we're staying up with that."

With wins, there are losses.Flager says over the last two-months, the live-release rate for cats is at 30-percent, while the rate for dogs is more than double that.

"We have over an 80% live release rate for dogs. And, although we're pleased with that, we will not be happy with that until we are adopting 90-95% of animals in our care," he says.

To that end, the organization has added positions to help with adoptions and has extended its hours.But, even though the pound is doing its own adoptions, it says it will still need help from area rescues to accomplish its goals.

"We're taking a small share of the animals and doing what we can to get them into new homes and we hope that our rescue partners will join us to continue the fight," says Flagler.

To learn more about the Regional Center for Animal Control and Protection, click here.

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